The ad reprints a letter from Dole, who was the party’s standard-bearer in 1996. “A number of my friends are currently candidates seeking the GOP nomination. But the time has now come for us to decide who among them can defeat Barack Obama in 2012,” the letter says. “I’ve made my decision, and I believe our best hope lies in Governor Mitt Romney…

“As president, Mitt Romney will succeed in turning this country around. He rescued a flailing Winter Olympics when it was mired in financial scandal. He was an exceptional governor of Massachusetts, who managed to both balance the state’s budget and cut taxes while dealing with an overwhelmingly Democratic state legislature…

“I’ve run for president myself and twice I had the deep honor of finishing first in the Iowa caucuses. I have many friends in the state. Some of them even call me the president of Iowa. When I say that Mitt Romney is the kind of man that Iowans should support, I know whereof I speak.”

Four years ago, Dole wrote a letter defending Sen. John McCain to radio host Rush Limbaugh. Romney, who was McCain’s chief rival for the 2008 nomination, dismissed the value of Dole’s move. When Fox News asked him about the issue, Romney replied that Dole was “probably the last person I would have wanted to write a letter for me. I think there are a lot of folks that tend to think that maybe John McCain’s race is a bit like Bob Dole’s race; that it’s the guy who’s the next in line, he’s the inevitable choice, we’ll give it to him – and that it won’t work.”

Shortly after that interview, the Boston Globe reported that Romney tried to clarify his remarks:

“I’d love Bob Dole’s support: he’s a leader in our party, American hero, terrific person,” Romney said. “What I said was he’s not the person I would have wanted if I were John McCain writing a letter to Rush Limbaugh about this election process because Bob Dole reminds the American public that our selection at that time was seen by most as being one that went to the person who waited in line the longest, who deserved the nomination, who’d been in the Senate the longest, and that I don’t believe will be a successful strategy in this process.”

Romney’s explanation could fall flat with some conservatives, who see him as the “next-in-line” candidate in this cycle’s Republican field.

When asked for comment Saturday, the campaign released this statement: “Gov. Romney is proud to have the support of a growing number of Republican leaders, from Gov. Nikki Haley, to Chris Christie, to Bob Dole. There are many differences between this campaign and the campaign four years ago, chief among them that Gov. Romney is going to win the nomination and beat Barack Obama. Iowans are looking for someone who will turn this economy around and create jobs where this president has failed to lead. Mitt Romney is the Republican best-prepared to lead that turnaround.”